Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Viking Battle Axe - full transcript

Since
the dawn of human civilization,

mankind has made weapons.

Whoa!

Bladesmiths have
honed and perfected their craft

over thousands of years.

Oh, yeah!

And now, for
the first time ever,

these men will go head-to-head

and put their skills
to the ultimate test.

Welcome to the forge.

It starts
with a lump of raw steel



and a ticking clock,

and by the end of three rounds,

the bladesmiths must
deliver handmade weapons

that are works of art

as well as deadly
instruments of war.

These weapons must
survive explosive tests

as well as the scrutiny
of an expert panel judges.

In the end, only one bladesmith
will take home $10,000

and be crowned a
Forged in Firechampion.

I'm James Hughes.

I got into making
knives in 2000.

It's the pride of being able to
make something with your hands,

and make a useful piece of art.

I'm Jonathan Porter,



and I'm a farrier...

The fancy word
for a horseshoer...

As well as a
full-time bladesmith.

My name is Ryu Lim.

I was born and raised
in the Philippines.

I'm an ironworker,

and I make blades for a living.

My name is Phil Evans.

I've been making knives
for almost 20 years.

I made my first knife in 1995.

I ground it out of a file and
put a deer antler handle on it.

Gentlemen, welcome to the forge.

Ahead of you are
three challenges

designed to test your skill.

Each round is against the clock

and of course,
against each other.

After each round,

our panel of judges
will scrutinize your work.

They decide who
stays, and who goes.

It's time to meet our judges.

Solo weapons making
export, J. Neilson.

Rare weapons recreation
specialist, David Baker.

And finally, edged
weapons specialist

and martial artist,
Doug Marcaida.

In front of you, on
your anvils, is a cloth.

Go ahead and lift that up.

That is a train spring

made of high-carbon steel.

Your challenge is
to forge that spring

into a weapon of your own design

but it should be in
your signature style.

The length of the blade,

not including the tang,

must be between
12 and 16 inches.

And just to spice
things up a little bit,

that blade that you must
create must also have a fuller

that runs over half
the length of the blade.

I'm concerned 'cause

I've never put a
fuller in a knife before.

It's gonna be kind of tricky.

You will have ten minutes

to work on your design.

You will have three
hours to forge your blades.

After your time is up,

one of you will have to
surrender your weapon

and go home.

Good luck, bladesmiths.

Your ten-minute
design window begins...

Now.

My specialty is hunting knives

and fighting knives.

I want to mix those two
together into one blade,

and I want it to work.

In the Philippines,

I forged my first sword
when I was ten years old.

I felt the hot iron
move in my hand,

being formed by the
hammer to my will,

and I felt very powerful.

I loved that sword.

I slept next to it every night.

My knife's gonna be

a large Bowie-style knife.

My specialty knife
is a huntingtility knife.

That is a big, big blade.

Being a proud Texan,

I make a knife that
I can be proud of...

That anybody who carries one
of my knives can be proud of.

I'm making a broken
back or Viking-style seax.

Divided by...

I used to work at a horse show,

and they're typically
pretty boring for the farrier.

You're just waiting on
somebody's shoe to fall off.

So I decided at that point I
was going to make some knives,

and after the first
couple that I made,

that's pretty much what
I did at horse shows.

My design is for a Bowie knife

with a hidden tang.

My specialty in knife
making is a hunting knife

or skinning knife, so I wanted
to stick with what I knew.

My dad was blind.

Almost every knife that
I made, I showed him.

He couldn't see it,
but he would feel it.

He could feel imperfections
that I couldn't see,

which made me a
better knife maker.

Gentlemen,

your design window
is now closed.

Your three-hour
forging time begins now.

Here we go.

Threw 'em a little bit of a loop

on the size of that material.

Yeah.

They're just trying to
get their steel in the fire.

Phil got through part of it.

He took a piece off.

He just took enough off...

He took enough off

to get it fit in there.

- That was a good move.
- Yeah.

All right,

so we're gonna have
number two in the fire.

Looks like James
will be in the fire.

Heat up, heat up, heat up.

Come on baby, get hot.

Come on, come on,
come on, come on.

Hate waiting on fire!

- There you go. Here we go.
- There you go.

- Oh, my goodness.
- That's all right.

That's a lot to hold onto there.

I'm struggling with the spring.

I dropped it.

I couldn't get the
tongs to fit right.

That metal is
really fighting Phil.

I really don't know

how I'm gonna get
that spring uncoiled

and get it done in three hours.

He's getting there, though.

He's getting there.

- This is quite a challenge.
- Oh, yeah.

Quite a challenge.

Half an hour gone.

You have two and a
half hours remaining.

Yay!

All these other guys

got their springs in the forge.

I'm falling way behind.

So Ryu's finally got a piece

that he wants to work with,

and he's got his
metal in the forge.

I can make weapons
out of anything.

Literally anything

by myself with no assistance,

with no help from machines.

I want to do everything by hand,

and want to show people
how I make my blades.

He's beating on
cold steel there.

He's got to get
that a lot hotter.

I believe it's more personal.

You build a relationship
with that blade,

and you give it life.

You give it soul.

Everything that he does

is in a traditional technique.

Wow.

And usually,

they can get away with that,

but with a time element here...

You know, using these
other machines does help.

He might have
to learn how to adapt

and use some of these tools.

Come on, come on, come on,

come on!

So right now, it's just a race

to see who can uncoil
this the fastest, at this point.

And James is the first one

on the press.

I consider myself an artist,

because it's like
any other type of art.

You know, you paint a painting.

You take raw materials,
and you paint a painting.

We do the same thing.

We take raw materials
and we make art.

It looks like Jonathan is
getting the swing of things.

I have this ability

to look at a piece of steel

and just see the atoms.

It's just material
in front of me,

and it's free.

It can be moved
wherever you want,

and we use the heat as
the mode of transportation.

I really enjoy the process
of breaking it down

and putting it back
together again.

I'm having fun,
man. I'm having fun.

Now, Phil's over there,

and he's just working his edge.

Throwing it nice and easy.

When I finally
got it straightened out,

that's when I realize
I'm getting somewhere,

instead ofpinning my wheels.

Ryu's almost got it uncoiled.

Jeez, he's just
wasting time right now,

fighting with that coil.

I know.

The only way I'm gonna catch up

is if I uncoil this,

and I actually
start working on it.

There you go. Just flip it.

- There you go.
- There we go. Yeah.

That's what we want to see.

There you go.

That's a beautiful
use of the hardy hole.

I want to see what he can do...

He's close enough
to put it in the press,

or in the hammer...

But again,

that's not what he works with.

All of a sudden,

I felt like I was
gonna pass out.

It's about 100 degrees in here.

I have to leave.

I didn't want it to happen
in front of everybody.

- Oh, what is he thinking?
- What did he just do?

This is it.

I'm done.

This is a disaster.

So he's just going to
the bathroom, I hope.

Wow.

I mean, he's got a lot of
time he's got to make up.

I'm laying down.

In the background,

I could hear all these
hammers pounding.

I need to be out there, man.

I need to go back out there.

I'm losing time.

When I walked back in,

I felt like a gladiator
walking back into the arena.

Get your head in it, man.

I've never used these
power tools before,

like the power hammer
and the hydraulic press.

But I was running out of time,

and I needed to catch up.

There we go. That's
what I want to see.

Gentlemen, you have
90 minutes remaining.

Phil's nailing
that spring fuller.

I'm concerned about the fuller

because I've never put
a fuller in a knife before.

And I know if I go
too deep on this fuller,

I may have to start a new blade

or it could just be over for me.

One little slip with that press,

and you could
squeeze down too thin,

and it'll just blow
out the center.

- Oh, wow.
- You got to be very careful.

Oh.

Oh, no.

That's what I was worried about.

He's got it worked out so thin,

it's not just gonna
squeeze down,

'cause there's nothing
supporting the sides.

Right.

He just needs to flatten it out

and move on.

James is spending a
lot of time working that steel,

and he's refined his
tip a couple times.

Needs to deal with
it on the grinder.

Stop stressing your metal.

Every horseshoe has a fuller.

I can do this.

I'm so concerned about hitting
that fuller in a straight line,

I just let the blade
cool too quickly.

And just forged cold steel.

I'm just cringing every time

he's hitting that cold steel.

Oh, my God!

- What happened?
- Just broke my blade.

Oh!

- All that work.
- How did that happen?

To say that my heart
sank is an understatement.

Well, where's my
spring steel at?

Back to square one.

Don't give
up. There you go.

I went back and grabbed
some more steel from that spring.

Bring it home, baby.

So much for the plan!

So much for the plan, right?

I can do a lot in 45 minutes.

I know I'm gonna
have a lot of work to do,

but as long as I can
turn something in

that's better than
the other guys' stuff,

I'll have a better chance
to get to the second round.

Hey, we got a grinder going.

James is on the grinder.

As I'm grinding,

my eye catches
a little dark line.

Damn it.

You know rightway it's a crack.

Oh, man, I wanted
to scream so loud.

That sucker broke like glass.

Oh, my goodness.

This is heartbreaking.

It's almost impossible
to come back from.

I guess it shows
weakness if you quit,

but hey.

No way. I'm gonna do this.

I mean, these guys do know

that they have to quench
these things, correct?

I would hope so.

We said a finished blade.

It's not finished if
it's not heat treated.

So does anybody have a weapon

that would pass round one?

Nope.

Gentlemen,

you got less than seven minutes.

I want a fully heat
treated, functional blade.

Come on, Phil.

Put it in the oil,
you're the closest one.

Ryu, get it in the oil. Come on.

These guys have forgotten

they have to heat treat.

They're just making profiles.

I want to see a finished blade.

If it's long enough,
it's got a fuller,

and it's hardened,
I'll be happy.

Oil! We have a quench.

We have a quench.

- We have a quench.
- Finally!

So we have one contestant

with a fully heat-treated
blade that is eligible for judging.

And another one who can.

He could have
done it ten minutes ago.

Everybody is
looking at me like I'm crazy.

But I know what I'm doing.

Gentlemen,

you have two minutes remaining.

Okay, so Jonathan's in the oil.

Thank goodness.

One minute. One minute.

- Seriously? With a minute?
- What? Really?

Less than a minute.

Well, I'll take
anything at this point.

Then seconds.

Nine, eight,

seven, six,

five, four, three...

- Whoa!
- Two, one.

Gentlemen,

stop what you're doing.

I'm really embarrassed

that I broke that blade,

but I've cranked out a whole
second knife in 45 minutes.

You know, all I had

was a half-smashed
piece of steel there

that's incomplete.

You know, I just couldn't
fulfill the challenge.

Gentlemen, your challenge
was to forge a blade

from a train spring
made of high-carbon steel

that was between
12 and 16 inches.

Additionally, your blade
must include a fuller

that runs at least half
the length of the blade.

Phil, please present
your weapon.

You had a little bit of
trouble during the heat treat.

You got a warp in this blade.

I like the shape to your knife.

I like the drop to the handle.

In a chopper, that
really adds a lot to it.

- Congratulations.
- Thank you very much.

Ryu, you may present
your weapon to the judges.

Ryu, the overall
shape is really nice.

Thank you, sir.

I mean, it's gonna
be a nice chopping blade.

Now, one concern I seriously
have is your heat treat,

with a minute left.

I assumed that less than
a minute would be enough

to heat the very edge,

because of the powerful
forges that we have here.

That's a good plan,
especially for a chopping tool.

You know, having the soft
back and the hard edge.

Thank you.

But, in that time,

do you think you
got it up to about

the 1,500 degree
range it needed?

- I believe so, sir.
- Okay.

Looking forward to
putting this to the test.

Thank you.

That is a nice design.

I like the feel of it.

You know, I'm quite
familiar with the panday...

Another term for
bladesmith, from the old ways.

The thing that worried
me for a second there

was when you had
to leave the forge.

I thought you quit on us,

but I was glad to
see you come back.

And despite everything
that happened,

you were still able
to forge this weapon.

Thank you.

Jonathan,

please present your
weapon to the judges.

Yeah, there are some
issues with this, definitely.

Absolutely.

You know, where offset fullers

and everything else.

Yes, sir.

There's quite a bit to be done

with this, but, at
the same time,

you pulled that
out in record time,

and it was really impressive
to watch you move that fast.

Thank you, sir.

I like the shape, Jonathan.

Still needs some work.

It's got a little wiggle in it,

but excellent job.

Thank you.

James, please present
your weapon to the judges.

We've all broken blades,

but I've got to tell
you, fantastic effort.

Man, it's...

I mean you grabbed
another piece of steel,

and you went to town.

I was actually looking
forward to seeing that shape

you were working on too.

It had big sweep to it.

You know, if it hadn't
have broke on the anvil...

But unfortunately, the
blade you're handing us

isn't quenched, and
therefore, can't be a blade.

Yes, sir.

James,

I'd like to say one more thing.

There's metal,

and then there's mettle.

Yes.

And you've shown us your mettle.

- Please, surrender your weapon.
- Yes, sir.

All I can say is, I made errors

to try to give myself more time,

and it backfired on me.

I did Texas proud
for being who I am,

not for the way that
I performed in there.

Gentlemen,

this is round two.

Your second challenge
is to turn your blades

into fully-functioning,
operational weapons.

You must design and
affix a handle to your blade

using the range of
materials provided for you.

You will have just three hours.

You can use that time to
address any problems or issues

that you had from round one.

When the time runs out,

your weapons' strength
and durability will be tested

in a coconut chop,

as well as its ability
to hold an edge

in a specially designed
sharpness test.

After this challenge,

only two of you will
advance to the final round.

Your time starts...

Now.

Had I have finished
the first blade without cracking it,

three hours would be a cakewalk.

But I have so much catch-up
to do that I am just terrified

that my time management is
gonna become the biggest issue.

Oh, God.

My first thing to tackle is
to assess the fullering issue.

He's slowed that
grinder down quite a bit.

Well, he's trying to
clean up his fuller.

Okay.

The fullers, they are
the thing that I hate.

And I'm having a really
hard time lining these up.

He does not look happy

with his second blade.

And I hope that
doesn't sit like a cloud

hanging over him during
the second challenge.

First thing is
to try to fix my fuller,

and make it the right length,

and get it cleaned
up as much as I can.

I like what Phil's doing.

Phil's got a dremel
bit in the drill press,

using the vice as a
guide to clean up his fuller.

- Oh, okay.
- That's clever.

I'm a fifth
generation craftsman,

and there's a lot of projects

that have had to be
done in timely manners,

and we just do what
it takes to get it done.

My strategy for this round

is sharpen the knife
and finish the file work.

Then put a very
simple but a functional

handle on the blade.

It's like a
man-powered belt grinder.

There you go, that's
exactly what it is.

We've got all the modern
versions of the tools

that he's making.

And he wants
the primitive versions.

And he wants
the primitive versions.

How does that affect
his time, overall?

It's gonna kill him.

In my head,

I already had kind
of a color palette.

Which, I know I
want to use copper.

Because I'm gonna
use the copper,

I try and find a really neutral,
highly-figured burl wood

for the bulk of the handle.

- Almost an hour.
- You all right?

Yeah.

At this point,

I need to get that
bolster on the tang.

I have 45 minutes left.

It's enough time to
get everything done,

but I cannot have
anything else go wrong.

- There we go.
- Dang.

[heavy rock ch

That's what I was worried about.

I'm thinking too much,

and I'm not paying
enough attention,

and I pressed too
hard on that bolster

and it snaps in half.

Jonathan can
definitely pull this out.

He just needs to make
sure he doesn't get frustrated.

I don't have enough time
to do what I want to do.

I'm gonna take
this as a failure,

and I'm gonna make the
handle as good as I can make it.

Come on baby, come on
baby, come on baby, come on.

Another 1/8 inch, come on.

One hour.

You have one hour
to complete your work.

The epoxy
hasn't set up in the pins,

so they're not holding it solid.

So now, I have
to go to the anvil

and peen 'em on both sides

so it'll hold the
handle material

to the tang and the blad

The warp on this blade is
a little worse than I thought,

but I don't want to risk
trying to straighten it

and cracking the blade.

So I'm gonna grind
it the way that it is,

and finish it out
with the warp in.

I'm the type of guy who
doesn't overthink anything, really.

So when it comes
to choosing handle,

I'm just gonna
pick the colors I like.

Now, I understand the fact that

it's great watching someone do
hand work and everything else,

but in a three-hour challenge,

you know, sometimes
you got to cut to the chase.

I like to do it all by hand,

but here's something the
judges don't know about me.

I'm actually really bad-ass
with an angle grinder.

Oh, my God.

It looks like somebody
threw a hand grenade

into a flour factory over there.

It's just another
day at the office.

Ten, nine,

eight, seven,

six, five,

four, three,

two, one.

Your time is up.

I look at the other guys' blade,

and they look pretty ordinary,

and mine doesn't.

So I think that gives
me a little bit of an edge.

I feel very
good about the blade.

As far as the strength
and the durability,

I think it'll do fine.

Maybe somebody has
a failure. Maybe it's me.

But that would
definitely be something

that I wouldn't see coming.

Gentlemen,

this is the weapons test.

First, J. is gonna test
your weapons' strength

and durability in
a coconut chop.

J.?

Bladesmiths,

this is gonna test the
heat-treated edges

of your blades

and see how well they hold up

against these
tough, fibrous shells.

I'm gonna do one
chop per coconut,

three coconuts per blade.

After each one, I'm gonna check,

see any chipping, warping,

any issues.

Phil, you're up
first. Are you ready?

Yes, sir.

Let's do it.

I'm feeling a little nervous.

I think I'm sweating
more now than I did

during the forging
part of the competition.

J. cut the first coconut,

and it just kind
of slid off the table

and didn't cut right through it.

Oh, my gosh.

Son of a bitch.

I couldn't believe that
it broke off like that.

I thought it would really
chop through the coconut

with no problem.

And now I'm in a
situation where I think

the only way I can move on

is if one of the other
guys' blades break.

Well, Phil, I got to say,
it felt really good in hand.

I wish it had a little
more weight to it.

But, unfortunately, it broke.

So I'm not gonna
be able to continue

with the sharpness test.

Yeah.

Ryu, you're up next.

I'm not nervous right now.

I'm actually pretty excited

that they're gonna put
my blade to the test.

I want to see what happens.

Nice.

All right, Ryu, congratulations.

You went through the coconuts.

Concerns about your
heat treat, though.

What used to be a straight blade

is no longer straight.

Jonathan,

you ready to put your weapon
up against the coconuts?

We're gonna do it anyway.

I know.

I'm certain that my knife

is about to shatter
into a million pieces.

It's just not built to
chop through coconuts.

If my knife's gonna hold
up to those coconuts,

'cause they really do look
pretty ominous sitting up there.

Feeling better now, Jonathan?

Your edge held up well.

No warping.

Boxy handle, though.

It's a little hard to control.

But overall, good job.

Gonna pass it off to Doug
now for the sharpness test.

Okay, Ryu, what
I'm gonna do now is,

I'm just gonna see
if it's held its edge.

What I'm gonna do is,

I'm just gonna do
a horizontal cut.

I won't depend on power.

I'm just gonna walk through.

I think it cuts.

- Good job.
- Thank you.

I'm pretty happy with the way

my blade performed.

It bent, instead of break.

So that's a good thing.

Okay, Jonathan.

Let's see if it held its edge.

Like hot iron through butter.

Very good.

There's a slight bit of comfort

knowing that someone
had a complete failure,

but what I turned
in is not something

to just go in front of them
and expect praise about.

Gentlemen,

the judges have
come to a decision.

Phil,

you did not make the cut.

I really liked

where you were
going with the blade,

and your edge actually held
up well during the coconut chop.

But obviously, there was
an issue with your heat treat,

and you had the tip fly off.

Because of that, we
can't let you continue.

I understand.

Phil, please surrender
your weapon.

I'm disappointed in myself.

Thank you, gentlemen. I
appreciate the opportunity.

I obviously
agree with the decision,

but yeah, I was looking
forward to moving on.

I really saw
myself in the finals.

Ryu, Jonathan,

you made it through
to the final round.

So far,

you've designed and presented

a weapon in your own styles.

Now we're gonna send
you back to your home forges

where you will make one
of the most iconic weapons

from history...

The Viking battle axe.

The Viking battle axe
was a brutal killing weapon

that played a significant
role throughout history.

Viking warriors
were mostly farmers,

so when going off to fight,

they would pick the tool
they had close at hand,

which was often
a woodcutting axe.

When later models took on shapes

more convenient
to the fighting man,

the battle axe was born.

The haft was made of wood,

and the curved head
allowed the axe to be used

to hook an opponent's ankle,

throwing him off balance
and onto the ground...

Positioning the Viking
to go in for the kill

with the large,
razor-sharp cutting edge.

The battle axe has a long
and colorful association

with fantasy film
and literature,

being the weapon of
choice for the dwarves

in The Lord of the
Rings and The Hobbit,

as well as for the players
of fantasy computer games

such as World of Warcraft.

It must be a working,

fully functional version
of that lethal weapon.

You will have five days
to complete this challenge.

I love making axes.

It's so fun to take a
giant block of metal

and move it so many
different directions.

I've come this far

with only my skills
and my hands,

and even though I don't
have the proper tools

to produce a Viking axe,

I'm going to come
back with a bad-ass one.

After five days,

you will present your
battle axes to the judges,

where they will put them through

a series of rigorous
and dynamic tests.

Once those tests are completed,

one of you will walk out of
here with a check for $10,000...

And the title of Forged
in Firechampion.

Good luck, gentlemen.

I'm back at the Dog House,

and it feels a lot
more comfortable here

than it did in the
first two rounds.

I'm doing a multiple layer,
patterned steel battle axe.

The Vikings, they used a
lot of multi-layered steel.

Overall, this will
be one sturdy axe.

I am super pumped
about this battle axe.

I just feel like the judges
never saw what I can do.

They just saw how
well I can save my butt.

So I'm going to hand
them the absolute best thing

I have ever made
in my entire life.

The studio shop
had everything, man.

I got the bare bones.

Only the basics.

My forge is basically
a cast-iron pot

with a hole drilled
in the bottom,

where I attached a black pipe.

And on that black pipe,
I attached a hair dryer.

Using the hair dryer, I
introduce more oxygen.

And the more oxygen you put in,

the hotter it gets.

I've made smaller axes before,

but I've never
made an axe this big.

I'm gonna stretch out the metal,

and I'm gonna
wrap it around a pipe

to make an eye for the handle.

I really have no heat,

because it's so big it
doesn't fit in my forge.

I had to make some
adjustments to remedy that.

When you're working with
high powered power tools,

you got to
remember... safety first.

You got to wear
some eye protection,

and respirator.

The way it's going right now,

I'm not getting enough heat.

I'm losing a lot of
heat very quickly.

So I might start over.

Or make a new forge.

The competition
is definitely affecting me.

I don't know why I
don't just come in here

and forge like I always do,

but this contest sort
of just messes me up.

Man!

I just wasn't paying attention.

I took my eye off
it, and I cooked it.

It's done.

I got to start over.

Unbelievable!

The first forge wasn't working

because it was too small.

So I added a
satellite dish around it.

So I'll be able
to add more coal,

and make a bigger fire.

Looking good right now.

I can move onto the fun part.

What is this?

The firefighters came,

and unfortunately, I
was delayed an hour.

Your biggest thing
that we got to deal with

is the fact that you're...

I have to move the forge

and reposition everything.

Hopefully it doesn't affect
me too much towards the end.

- Thank you, sir.
- Good luck to you.

Appreciate it.

I really wish you good luck,

and I hope you win.

I forged another axe head,

and this time, the
blade held together.

I think the judges are
gonna be impressed

with the axe in general.

We're buttoned up with a
really nice, top-notch handle

with leather wraps that
go along with the head

that we've worked so hard for.

It's an end result
that I think looks good

and I'm proud of.

So no matter what they think,

I'm proud of what I'm gonna
put in front of them this round.

Last night,

I finished the blade.

And now, we're gonna
start working on the handle.

I don't have electric saw,

so I'm gonna have
to carve this down.

I spent the last hour
pounding in the handle

at the same time making it.

It was tough,

but I'm just really curious

what the judges
are gonna say, really.

A battle axe doesn't have
to be smooth and shiny.

It just has to work.

It doesn't have to be
pretty to split skulls.

[heavy rock ch

Gentlemen,

welcome back to the forge.

I hope that your five days at
home were very productive.

Jonathan, how did it go for you?

It was a lot bumpier
than I envisioned.

I really like the undercut
and the contours in it.

Not only did I build
you a battle axe,

I made my own metal,

and then made an
axe from that metal.

I feel like it's a $10,000
weapon, that's for sure.

How'd it go, Ryu?

It was a bit of a challenge.

I left the whole piece raw,

and rough.

That says a lot about me
and how I make my blades.

It's hand-forged,

and I want it to look
like it's hand-forged.

I don't want to clean it
up and mirror polish it.

Especially it's a Viking axe.

I don't think Vikings cared
for a mirror polish back then.

They're not a
bunch of pretty boys.

Well, the $10,000

and the title of Forged in
Fire champion are so close,

you can probably taste it.

But each of your blades will
have to endure three trials.

There will be a kill
test, a chop test,

and a strength test.

First is the kill test.

Doug?

To test the
lethality of your axe,

I will strike the side
of the beef here,

and see what kind
of damage it does.

Jonathan, you're up first.

I'm ready.

I'm looking at the rack of meat,

and I'm not sure if the
axe is gonna hold up.

Let's try it.

Your edge held.

It crushed through three bones.

It will kill.

Yes, it will.

For the next test,

I'm gonna pass it over

to our European
historical weapons expert.

Dave?

Thanks, Doug.

Gentlemen,

the Viking axe was designed

to create the maximum amount
of carnage on the battlefield.

To test it, in the chop test,

I'm gonna take five blows

against this
hardened panel of oak.

Oak was the common
building material of the time,

and this was the
breaching tool of the time.

I'm ready.

All right.

I don't know if I can
crawl through that,

but it seemed to do the job.

That round handle, though.

Boy, it wants to
twist in your hand.

Bit of an issue.

Overall, it felt pretty good.

Ryu, You're up next.

Are you ready?

I'm ready. Let's do it.

I'm hoping that the judges
will push my axe over the limit.

I want them to throw
everything they got at that axe.

I don't think my axe can fail.

The handle's a little slippery.

So first couple of
tries it was slipping off,

I had to make sure it
didn't go fly off my hand.

You cut about three
and into the fourth bone.

This, I believe, is a killer.

- Good job.
- Thank you very much.

Dave?

My axe may not be pretty,

but it can definitely
split some skulls.

Well, felt pretty good.

My hand could
travel on that handle.

Whereas with that leather wrap,

I couldn't really move my
hand while I was swinging.

Nice job.

Thank you.

Well, gentlemen,

your weapons have
performed well thus far.

But it's not over yet.

We're gonna see just
how much punishment

your weapons can
take in our strength test.

Doug?

For the strength test,
your axes will be placed

in a specially
designed impact device.

The arm is set to
deliver maximum force

at the point of impact.

We will deliver three
strikes on the shield.

That will give us
a good indication

of how much pressure
your axe can take.

Let's see if your weapon
will survive this test.

Jonathan, let's test it.

This is the only
point in the testing

that I'm a little afraid
about how it's gonna hold up

because that machine
looks really mean.

Three,

two, one

Engaging.

Engaging.

Engaging.

I don't see any clear
indentations on your edge.

A little
indentation on the shield,

and your haft
seems to have held.

- Good job.
- Thank you.

Ryu, you're next.

Three,

two, one.

Engaging.

When I saw the first strike,
I was just disappointed.

I just wanted more power.

Engaging.

That split the shield in half,

and all the way through.

Edge held.

Haft is still secure.

- Good job.
- Thank you.

I think this is gonna be a
tough decision for the judges,

and that's what I want.

I want it to be fair.

Ryu, Jonathan,

you've had five days

to create a Viking battle
axe of your own design,

and you've both
done marvelous work.

However,

there can only be one champion.

J.

Ryu, I really like the profile

that your Viking
axe brought out.

You know, the
feeling it, the look of it.

I wish there was a little
more belly to the blade,

but we also have
some symmetry issues.

Where your blade coming
off the eye at a slight cant,

and the blade edge along
the handle is a bit off also.

So those are points
that concern me.

Doug.

The design of your battle axe

really allowed me to
feel the blade in my hand.

Good job.

Jonathan, I like the
pattern welding you did.

I mean, that was a great touch.

Your fit up on
your haft was great,

and I loved the profile,

but you kind of lost
track on the handle.

The roundedness of your
handle does give it a tendency

to move around too much,

to where it doesn't
feel like you can tell

where the edge of
the blade is at all times.

You have both done
yourselves proud as bladesmiths.

However, in this competition,

there can only be one winner.

Ryu.

You are the Forged
in Fire champion.

Congratulations.

Good job, buddy.

Good job.

Jonathan,

your weapon did
not make the cut.

There was some great
aspects to your blade,

but a slaggy scale on a blade,

the sloppiness up top,

and the biggest
thing that hurt you

was that dowel handle.

Even though you did a nice
job adding some pigskin to it,

it just wasn't enough
to get over the fact

that that blade wanted to
swing around in people's hands.

Jonathan,

please surrender your weapon.

I mean, I'm totally proud

of the work that I'd done.

I mean, I turned in a
laminated Viking battle axe.

So I'm not...

I'm not by any means going
home 'cause I didn't do enough.

In this case, Ryu
just did a better job.

I feel very proud right now.

I worked really hard for this.

I guess it paid off.

The stress level got to
you in the first challenge.

You were able
to pull it together.

I mean, you got a few issues,

but you brought a true weapon

you should
definitely be proud of.

Thank you, sir.

I put my soul into
forging that axe.

I gave it everything I had.

And now,
I walk out as a champion.